A Classic Weekend

I knew last weekend would be a good one as soon as I heard the words "No Friday morning practice" come out of Mark Rothstein's mouth earlier that week.  The only real question was just how good of a weekend it would be.

Well, it turns out it was a classic weekend.  Literally and figuratively speaking.  Let me take you through it.

It all started on Thursday.  As our afternoon practice (lifting) was cancelled as well in the name of "recovery," I decided to do just that:  recover...in the form of an accidental 6 hour nap.  That's right.  I went to take my nap at 5 pm, figuring to wake up at 7-7:30 latest.  Nope.  I wake up--it's 11:15 pm.  Oops.  As I hadn't eaten anything since 3, I had a quick snack, went over to Martin's in order to ensure him that I was not, in fact, dead, and was asleep again by 12:30.  Woke up at 7:30 the next morning, after a solid 13 hours of sleep, feeling more rested than I had since summer vacation ended.  I went to my one class for the day, then prepared myself for the greatest fall head race created since Head of the Charles:

The Belleville Classic!


First of all, can I just say that's like, the classiest regatta name ever.  It sounds even classier when you call it "The Third Annual Belleville Classic."  You could mistake it for a prestigious golf tournament or something.  I love it.

Anyway, the Belleville Classic, our annual "friendly" competition between us and the Michigan men's team, is always something I look forward to.  It's probably the lowest-stress race piece I do all year, because even though Mark calls this our "most important fall race," we all know that at the end of the day, the coaches barely even remember anything beyond which coxswain almost ran into their launch and/or the bridge (again). This year was especially fun as, in a freakish turn of events, it was actually sunny and warm instead of the usual cold/wind/rain/snow combo we usually get around this time of year.

After the usual clusterfuck in the start bay ("Bow number 7?  Bow number 7?!  WHERE IS BOW NUMBER 7?!?!?"), we were off!  As my boat passed some men's novice eights within the first 1000m of the race, I actually thought to myself, "this is kinda fun!"  However, then we got to the final 1000m.  I was tired, the water turned to shit, and we were rating somewhere around a 47 (I think).  At that point, all I could think was "don't catch a crab, don't catch a crab, don't catch a CRAB..." and any notion of "fun" was long forgotten. By the time it was over my emotions ranged from relief to sadness. On the one hand, I was thanking any higher power that would listen to me that this race had finally ended (and that I hadn't crabbed), but on the other hand, I was sad that I had just completed my last ever Belleville Classic.

Later that night, my parents took Martin and I to Zingerman's Roadhouse for an amazingly delicious dinner.  Plus we got free brownies since my mom's ribs were burnt on top!  Hellll yeah.  An amazing end to an amazing day.  But there was more to come!

The next day, after my last fall practice on Belleville Lake (moment of silence), we had Boathouse Day!  This was awesome for several reasons:

a.  Free, tasty food!
b.  Rowers coxing; coxswains rowing!  Madness!
c.  Jayme rowing--yessssss
d.  Felice's "power five" calls.

A few of my favorite pictures from that day:

Brett's attempt to coach novice master's. 

Jayme rowing!  In three-tard!

Emily coxing...hahaha.

After Boathouse Day was over, it was time to rest and recover (and watch Michigan eke out a win over Purdue) for the weekend's final act:

The Belleville Classic Classic

Oh, the Classic Classic.  Words cannot even accurately describe this amazing event, so I will just give you a casual summary.  Basically, the Classic Classic is a chance for the rowers of Michigan to get together and celebrate another successful Belleville Classic.  This year's theme of Cross-Dressing at Cross St, while slightly tamer than last year's One-Piece Party, brought out some amazing costumes.  My choice for best female-to-male transformation goes to my friend Melisa Ongun.

Perfection.

Unfortunately, I can't really post the best male-to-female transformations because they're not appropriate for eyes which are not glazed over after at least a second can of 4 Loko.  But they were epic, and I have to applaud the men for their willingness to go balls-out (literally) in the name of the Classic Classic.  

My weekend ended on a high note as well:  a lazy Sunday complete with a trip to Angelo's.  What more could a girl ask for?  

Peace,

Lauren